Go homemade: It costs less to cook from scratch AND you get the added benefit of less food wasted. Whenever anyone I know buys one of those precooked holiday meals there’s a ton leftovers because those precooked meals just don’t taste that great. Why buy food if you’re going to toss it? It is more time consuming to cook homemade, but if you gather everyone together to help it makes it faster (and more fun).

Buy frozen holiday food: Normally I say go fresh and organic, however with the sheer bulk of holiday food that most families buy, frozen foods are almost just as healthy and costs less. Go fresh with your salad fixings but buy side veggies like broccoli and corn frozen. Fresh fruit is expensive this time of year, so look for frozen strawberries, raspberries, and other fruits in frozen form for tarts, cookies, pies, and sauces. Most frozen fruits and veggies are available in organic too.

Think cans: On the same note as the above canned fruits for pies can save you cash. I never suggest canned veggies because I think they taste terrible PLUS unless you want a side of BPA for the holidays it’s safer to skip the canned veggies.

Know when to go cheap and when to splurge: You should splurge on an organic turkey and fresh veggies for a raw veggie tray, but empty calorie foods like chips, soda, and so on taste pretty much the same if you buy name brand or store brand. Going cheap on the less meaningful food saves you cash to splurge on nicer foods – i.e. fruit and cheese.

Stretch and compost leftovers: If you bought too much food, the best thing is to make yummy leftovers with it. We have some great holiday leftover ideas here at Thrifty Mommy. You can also compost which is a great way to get an early start on healthy soil for spring.

What are some other ways to save money on Christmas dinner?

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However, IF you’re not a holiday baby or you want to throw a great party for your kids the following round-up of tips and links should help you do so on a budget.

THE PARTY

• Crafty Birthday Party Fun & Savings
• Green your party – yes green living does save cash – get even more tips for an eco-birthday party.
• Save Money on Birthday Celebrations for Large Families
• Three inexpensive birthday party ideas

THE CAKE & TREATS

• Four ways to save money on birthday cakes
• The $13 birthday party – very cool.
• Unique, Yet Simple & Inexpensive Kids Birthday Treats
• Make and decorate your own cake – get inspired!
• Skip the disposable plates and make easy cupcakes in reusable cupcake liners.

GOODIE BAGS

• Skip the goodie bags – it’s outside the box but perfectly acceptable.
• Thrifty goodie bags
• More goodie bag ideas – many low cost.

SAVE MONEY ON BIRTHDAY GIFTS

• Save money on birthday presents
• Homemade birthday cards made easy
• Everyday Cheapskate Fun and cheap birthday gift ideas for kids
• Inexpensive Birthday Gift Ideas for Preschoolers
• Homemade toys for kids and a great DIY play kitchen round-up (low cost and awesome gift). See even more homemade toy ideas.
• Homemade gifts for adults.

[image via stock.xchng]

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When you wait too long, you may be forced to pick up national vs. store brands of items like condensed milk and pie filling, which will cost you.  Save fresh fruits and veggies as day before buys, but get everything else early.

Share the fame: I know folks who want to whip up an entire holiday spread all on their own, because they think they’re the best cook or because they like food just so so. However, if you’re open to other people’s dishes, you can save money when family members show up with pies and other dishes.

Keep it green: Cloth napkins and real dishes save lots of money. I know that there’s time time spent washing real dishes vs. tossing disposables and cloth textiles, but in the long run it will save you money and save the planet. Instead of wax candles go with some reusable LED tea lights on the table – no soot and reusable is greener and healthier. If you want to go extreme green and save way more cash, make it a vegetarian or at least mostly veggie holiday. You don’t need fancy cold cuts before the meal and both a ham and turkey. Choose one meat or say to heck with all of it. Less meat it healthier for you and the earth and your wallet.

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Ditching one car if you have two can be an excellent way to lower household costs. You can save that money you would be spending on depreciation, interest on your loan, taxes and fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance, repairs, and more and put it to better use.

I was in a two parent + kid family for years with just one car. We lived in an area with seriously terrible public transportation AND we lived in a little town out on a beach – so for supplies you had to drive into town. Lastly, my son’s dad and me were both in college at the time and one of us always had a job. However, we still managed to make one car work by doing the following….

• Alternating schedules or sticking to schedules that overlapped a bit so that we could switch out the car or drop the other person off.  in order to allow time for one of us to drop the other off.
• We got child care within walking distance of my college or I’d take baby Cedar to class with me.
• We never made small trips into town. If we needed stuff we did it all at once – hit the doctors, hit the grocery store, and thrift store, etc.

If unlike us, you live in an urban area, it’s way easier to cut one car from the family budget because you can…

• Take public transportation.
• Car-pool with another person or family.
• Walk or bike to work and school.
• Have one parent work at home if possible, or at least work PT from home – more and more jobs are working out ways that employees can do this.
• Try a car share like Zipcar.
• Rent a car if one is needed for a temporary change in schedule.

It’s not totally easy to live with just one car in a family with more than one adult, but it is possible, and not as bad as you think. You save a ton of money and lower your carbon footprint as a bonus.

Could your family manage with just one car?

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For fun and savings combine the food, activity, and goodie bag components or at least two of each. For example…

• Have kids decorate cookies or cupcakes at the party. Set a table out with all the necessary decor items – frosting tubes, little candies, sprinkles, and more. Have kids go at it for the activity, give them a cupcake and juice or fruit for a snack, then send them home with a couple of extra cupcakes each.You can also make cookies with kids and send them home with a cookie cutter and some of the cookies.
• Have the kids make homemade play dough, finger paint, or goop then give each a recycled yogurt containers so they can take some home.
• Get some recycled cardboard and rubber bands along with some some paint, and let the kids make and decorate small flower presses. Head out into the neighborhood, gather flowers and leaves to press, then send each kid home with their press.
• If it’s near a holiday find a suitable holiday craft or two and give kids the tools to make said craft, then they can take them home. For example, for a November or December birthday these recycled pumpkin pie tin ornaments are awesome. For a summer party let kids make solar prints.

Really you can combine many treats and activities that will easily double up as party fun and take home goodness. What else can you think of?

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This stimulus package is a big one.  These ideas are just mine and feel free to disagree as I am really wanting someone to explain the other side because I am just not getting it right now.

• If we don’t have the money to spend, why are we spending it?  I realize that we need to do something.  However, I am of the mind that if we don’t liek the practices of a bank, then we don’t do any business with that bank.  If we feel that the auto industry is not being responsible with their finances, then we don’t buy their cars.  That is what bankruptcy restructuring is for.
• If it doesn’t create a job in the next 6 months, it shouldn’t be in the bill.  I don’t see any reason why $650 billion dollars is in the stimulus package to fund the digital TV switch.
• If it needs to be funded by the government, it should be passed through committee and voted on it’s merit instead of being pushed through in the stimulus package.  I am not against giving $300 million to combat violence against women, but it should go through committee and be voted on by it’s own merit.  Don’t bypass the system and sneak it in here.
• Every child needs to be taken care of.  But $2 billion for child care assistance should be passed on it’s own merit.
• Funding college scholarships will benefit in the long run but it won’t bring on new jobs in the next 6 months.  Deal with it separate and find a way to pay for it that won’t bring us further in debt.
• $4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities” should be a local governance issue.  Not a federal issue and not here.
• Come on!!! $448 billion for a new home for the Department of Homeland Defense?  Yes, it will bring more construction jobs, but why does it have to be here?  Why can’t you pay for it in the budget for DHD?
• $350 million for Agriculture Department computers? That will make their jobs easier but it won’t add a single job or stimulate any economic progress.

I think some of these spending bills are good and will increase productivity but they shouldn’t be in THIS bill.   Here are some good ideas that are in the bill that I think are good ideas.

• Money to rebuild bridges and roads
• Money to create jobs in the private sector in the next 6 months – not 2 years from now
• Giving the people back their money to spend how they want. I can spend it much better  than they can.

My financial background has taught me a few things that I do try to live by.

• If I can’t pay for it in cash, I either need to save for it or do without.
• If I can’t afford to pay it back, I don’t need to borrow – a loan or credit
• If I can’t afford to save a little each month, I am spending too much.

So please tell me where you think I am missing the boat because I totally don’t uderstand why if we are in such a deep hole already, why we need to spend $1.3 trillion after interest.

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1. Hot Totties for a cold and cough – 1/3 lemon juice, 1/3 whiskey, and 1/3 honey; heat it and drink a shot every 6 hours
2. Cough – 1 tsp when needed
3. Laxative – Put some in your drink to cleanse your colon
4. Protectant – Bug bites and small cuts can be protected by putting honey directly on the wound to keep dirt and germs out until you can treat it.
5. Calcium – Some studies have shown that honey can help you retain calcium.
6. Sedative -Ok this is a stretch but put some honey in a cup of warm milk helps you sleep.
7. Hangover Helper – Put a few tablespoons on bread to help speed up the metabolism of alcohol.
8. Eczema - Use honey soap to reduce eczema
9. Fights bacteria – Honey evidently inhibits bacterial growth
10. Healthy – Great source of Antioxidants

So enjoy eating honey every day, multiple times a day with no worries.  Use it instead of sugar to sweeten your drinks.  It has fewer calories and more benefits than sugar.  AND it’s cheaper.

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Good luck and talk soon,

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Thank you, The Creative Bride, for the tip and fun reading. I will be back.

Wish I could show you the dress, but I don’t want to step on her toes.  Go over and see for yourself.  She looked like a bride.

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